Biography

Jackson was born on March 11, 1965 in Greenville, South Carolina. Jackson graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1987 where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management. Three years later, he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Theology from the Chicago Theological Seminary, and in 1993, received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law. [1]

Issues

Political Positions

On his campaign website, Jackson has 5 leading issues that he is concerned about. In comparison, Debbie Halvorson, his Democratic Primary opponent, lists 8 issues. Jackson lists the following issues: [2]

Economy

Excerpt: "In the 2nd Congressional District, the biggest issue is jobs. That's why Congressman Jackson has been fighting to build a third airport in the south suburbs, which would bring jobs and economic development to the Southland."

Excerpt: "Congressman Jackson supported the bill, and believes it should be implemented as passed, so that the promise of health care reform can be fully realized. He also believes that a public option should be considered in the future, and supported such a provision when it was debated in Congress."

Excerpt: "Education is the key to improving the quality of life for millions of Americans who grow up in communities such as the South Side and south suburbs, where economic opportunity is scarce. Congressman Jackson believes that both additional resources and accountability are necessary, so that schools that have been failing can begin to meet higher standards. In addition, Congressman Jackson has proposed a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to an education of equal high quality to all Americans."

Excerpt: "Climate change is a real threat to all Americans and to people across the globe. As temperatures rise, lives and livelihoods are at risk. Simply put, we absolutely must reduce our carbon emissions as quickly as possible, and we must convince our counterparts around the globe to do so as well. Congressman Jackson supports a national cap-and-trade system to put a price on carbon."

Excerpt: "In Afghanistan, we must continue to build the government's capacity to effectively govern and secure the country, leading towards the responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops. We must ensure that when we leave, the Taliban and Al Qaeda are unable to return to power and safe harbor there. In the Middle East, Congressman Jackson has been a vocal leader in protecting the security of Israel. In March of 2010, he joined his Republican colleague, Mike Pence of Indiana, in drafting a letter to President Obama that encourages crippling sanctions on Iran in order to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons."

Notable endorsements

The following are endorsements from notable persons and organizations:

Nancy Pelosi

"He may be junior in terms of his title in the family, but he is very senior in the amount of respect he commands in the Congress of the United States."

Campaign tactics and controversies

In early-October 2011, campaign-related e-mails were sent by Jackson's staff members in response to campaign statements made by Democratic Primary opponent Debbie Halvorson. The e-mails, according to reports, were sent from the staff members' government accounts after requests by the media. Allegedly, this violated U.S. House rules that prohibit using government email accounts for campaign or political purposes. According to the House rules maual: "[T]he use of one‘s office desktop computer (including one‘s mail.house.gov e-mail address) to send or receive such communications continues to be prohibited." However, Jackson's spokesperson Kitty Kurth claimed that those emails can be categorized as appropriate because of an exemption allowing press secretaries to "answer occasional questions on political matters."[3]

Jesse Jackson, Jr. stated during his campaign for re-election that he plans on introducing legislation that would turn the Historic Pullman District in Chicago, Illinois into a national park. The Chicago neighborhood is the first planned industrial community in the United States. The potential proposal would allow for a one-to-three year feasibility study to determine if designating the park at certain locations would work. If so, a proposal to Congress would be made to pass a measure to designate it as a national park.[4]

Jackson stated that his Democratic Primary opponent, Debbie Halvorson has not supported President Barack Obama as much as he has. He pointed out that Halvorson voted against the president 88 times while in Congress.[5]

Polls

2012 Election

A poll released by the Halvorson campaign in January 2012 showed the following results between Democratic Primary opponents Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. and Debbie Halvorson.[6]

A second poll was released at the same time, by Lake Research Partners, showing similar results to the previous one.[6]

Neither polls released a margin of error, therefore, the chart shows zero until those numbers are obtained.

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.